An alleged victim of sexual abuse at Morning Star Community Church first reached out to Statesman Journal reporter Lauren Hernandez in May 2017, a month after the woman sent a letter detailing allegations to the church's board of directors.

The victim remained in contact with Hernandez during the nine months the church conducted an independent investigation.

Statesman Journal reporter Capi Lynn received a tip Jan. 13 that longtime pastor Ken Engelking would resign from Morning Star the next day.

Hernandez attended the 9 a.m. service on Sunday, Jan. 14, during which Senior Pastor Scott Nelson announced that Pastor Ken Engelking had resigned under allegations of “sexual immorality.”

The Statesman Journal interviewed all four women and attempted to corroborate their stories through interviews with family members, friends and a local pastor at another church who had counseled one of the women.

Reporters did criminal background checks on parties involved and combed through newspaper archives to put together a timeline on the history of Morning Star and its growth.

The Statesman Journal also contacted officials with the Salem Police Department, the Marion County District Attorney’s office, as well as other churches and religious scholars.

The Statesman Journal reached out to Morning Star staff, board members and pastors’ wives, first through phone calls and emails, then via certified letters. All but one of the certified letters were delivered, either to the church, to board members’ places of business, or their homes.

The board responded Feb. 23 with a statement from a Salem attorney, who also asked the Statesman Journal to make no further inquiries of Morning Star staff or board members.

Hernandez attended the 11 a.m. service on Sunday, Feb. 25, during which Senior Pastor Scott Nelson announced to the congregation that the Statesman Journal was working on a story about the allegations.

He passed out a one-page description of the allegations to church members.

The Statesman Journal followed up with a final inquiry Feb. 26 via email to the primary parties, including the attorney, “to ensure that we are being fair and doing our due diligence, giving you every opportunity to answer our questions or clear up any misunderstandings ...”

The attorney responded that same day and attempted to address some of the newspaper’s questions.